at the outset that we are grateful to president obama for nominating him for this place on our court. michael shea is a native of west hartford, connecticut, a graduate of amherst college and yale law school, served as a clerk to judge james buckley, though a resident of connecticut, sat on the u.s. court of appeals for the district of columbia. michael shea clerked for judge buckley in 1993 and 1994. i will say that judge buckley sent our advisory committee and i believe the judiciary committee and senator blumenthal and me a very thoughtful, positive, personal letter of recommendation on mr. shea's behalf. after concluding his clerkship, michael shea joined the firm of clery, got leeb, stein and hamilton as an associate where he stayed for four years working on both criminal and civil cases and for a period of time was dispatched to the brussels, belgium office of the firm working on an antitrust investigation but much more significant than his legal work, there in brussels he met his wife, frederique and they have three wonderful children. since 1998 michael shea has been a partne